Torpedo-placer for railways.



No. 855,772. PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907.

, A. H. HANDLAN, In.

TORPEDO PLACER FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1. 1907.

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inventor:

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No. 855,772. PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907. A. H. HANDLAN, In. TORPEDO PLACER FOB. RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1. 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TORPEDO-PLACER FOR RAILWAYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 4, 1907.

Application filed April 1, 1907. Serial No. 365,824.

To (all whom it may concern.-

- Be it known that I, ALEXANDER H. HAND- LAN, Jr., a citizen of the United States of America, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Torpedo-Placers for Railways, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a device for automatically placing torpedoes upon railway rails and it has for its object to provide a device of this character. associated with the semaphore or signal of a railway for utility in placing one or more torpedoes over a railway rail to be in a position to be struck by a car wheel and exploded if occasion arises for the explosion of a torpedo as a Warning to the operator of a train and so constructed as to be retractable as well as projectable in order that the torpedo may be withdrawn from a position over the rail if there is no necessity for its use.

The device is more particularly intended for use in connection with block signal sys tems of railways to furnish a warning to a train operator that another train is in the block into which he has entered in instances where it is impossible to discern the usual signal by sight but it may also be used in connection with ordinary signals that are op erated manually.

Figure I is a perspective view of the section of a railway track, a semaphore and my torpedo placer ShOWIl connected to said sen1aphore. Fig. II is a top or plan view of the torpedo placer with its housing shown in horizontal section. Fig. III is a vertical section taken on line III'III, Fig. II.

A designates a railway rail.

B is the post of a semaphore and C a signal arm of said semaphore that is mounted in any usual manner upon said post. The semaphore arm is operated by a controlling rod D connected thereto by a bell crank lever E pivoted to said controlling rod and a connecting rod F also pivoted to said bell crank lever and united to an operating mechanism that may be a part of a block signal system or any other suitable mechanism by which the semaphore is controlled.

1 designates a bed that is placed adjacent to the rail A and is preferably tubular in order that the connecting rod F may operate therethrough. This bed is provided with a guide slot 2 that extends at right angles to the rail A and in which a member, to be hereinaiter referred to, operates.

3'is a slide rod that is located upon the bed 1 and is guided thereon for reciprocation, the said rod being united to the bell crank E of the semaphore by a connecting rod 4.

5 designates a pair of carrier arms that are pivoted at 6 to the slide rod 3 and the free forward ends of which are suitably shaped to receive the attachment of torpedoes X which may be fitted to the arms in any suitable manner. I have shown the torpedoes as pro vided with shanks 7 terminating at their rear ends in clips 8 that may be readily slipped onto the forward ends of the carrier arms 5 or withdrawn from said arms after the torpedoes have been exploded in order that new torpedoes may be applied to the arms with readiness.

9 designates a pair of toggle links that are pivotally connected at 10 to the torpedo carrier arms and which are pivoted to each other by a pin or bolt 11 that is adapted to operate in the guide slot 2 at the top of the bed 1 for the purpose of guiding the toggle links in their forward and rearward movements with the carrier arms and also for the purpose of serving as a fulcrum on which the toggle links operate for action upon the carrier arms. The toggle links serve as both guiding and spreader members for the carrier arms. 4

12 is a housing that is adapted to inclose the torpedo carrier arms, the torpedoes and the operating mechanism directly associated with said parts for the purpose of preventing tampering with these members and also for the purpose of preventing any object carried by a train from striking the members to injure them.

When, in the practical use of'my torpedo placer, it is in service in connection with a lock signal system, the operation is as follows: As a train enters a block division of a railway track and causes the semaphore to be operated to visibly indicate danger, the torpedo carrier arms which normally occupy the retracted positions seen in full lines, Figs.

II and III at the time that the semaphore isin safety position are, upon the actuation of the semaphore to visibly indicate danger, thrown forwardly with the result of carrying the torpedoes into positions above the track rail A, as seen in full lines Fig. I and dotted lines, Fig. II. Then, if the wheels of a train move upon said rail to the location of the IuO torpedoes, they pass over the torpedoes and produce a concussion that results in the explosion of the torpedoes and the consequent aural warning to the operator of the train. Should, however, no train enter into the block and pass to the semaphore at which the torpedoes are resting-over the rail A,

there is no action upon the torpedoes and when the semaphore returns automatically to a position to indicate safety the torpedoes are retracted by the carrier arms and remain in condition for service at any later time should occasion arise for their utility when they are projected as before into positions over the railway rail.

By using a plurality of carrier arms and providing means whereby said arms are spread outwardly as they are projected toward the railway rail I place the torpedoes above the rail at a distance from each other and thus provide for two separate, and distinct reports when the torpedoes are exploded with intervals between such reports, thus affording a more pronounced warning to the train operator than would be furnished by the employment of a signal torpedo or by placing a plurality of torpedoes in close assemblage over the rail to be ex loded with no apparent interval of time between the reports of the explosions. Furthermore, by using a plurality of toredo carriers and torpedoes I am enabled to urnish greater assurance of a warning by the desired report from a torpedo explosion, inasmuch as, should there be a failure of one of the torpedoes exploding, there is a chance of a pair of torpedo carrier arms having connection with said signal and movable toward and away from a railway rail, and a pair of toggle links connecting said arms and serving to spread them a art as they are moved, substantially as set orth.

3. The combination of a railway signal, of a bed, a pair of torpedo carrier arms movably mounted on said bed and having connection with said signal, and a pair of toggle links slidably fitted to said bed and having connection with said arms, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a railway signal, of a bed, provided with a slot, of a torpedo placer comprising a pair of carrier arms having connection with said signal, a pair of toggle links pivoted. to said carrier arms, and a guide pin uniting said links and operable in the slot in said bed, substantially as set orth.

ALEXANDER H. HANDLAN, JR.

In presence of BLANOHE I'IOGAN, LILY RAsT. 

